I'm Cold

Yep, I understand the ominous foreboding from everyone regarding the oncoming cold. The cold is no longer oncoming; it is here. And it sucks.

In complete and total honesty, it isn’t that cold outside. It climbs up to about 50 degrees during the sunny part of the day, and then dips to 30 or 40 at night. It could be a lot worse. The challenging part is the lack of heating in Japanese buildings.

At school, warmth and colour are constantly absent from my hands. The same goes for my face, always void of colour. I have to drink coffee or tea at all times to ward off shivering fits making me look like a living maraca. Sometimes I do dishes in the kitchen just to enjoy the feeling of warm water cascading over my skin.

The major head scratcher for me is that the school always leaves the windows open. I really can’t for the life of me understand the reasoning behind this action. Because of this, at times it is warmer outside than in.

I would have abandoned the gym entirely if not for the promise of five hot tubs and a sauna awaiting me there after my workout. The internal heat generated by the workouts alone is motivation enough to keep moving by any means necessary. I ride my bike about ten times faster now just to stay warm.

I honestly can’t figure it out, though. Even when it isn’t that cold outside, it feels like it is a Siberian, frozen wasteland to me. I wear the same hat, scarf, gloves and boots as I do in Colorado, but somehow they seem a powerless defense against the frigid air here. Maybe the Japanese wind and air have a mystical ability to render American winter wear useless. That is the only logical answer, really.

All a Matter of Perspective

Having lived most of my life in a place where rain is not often in the forecast (except in rare, apocalyptic amounts), I have had to make some adjustments while living in Japan. I used to morph into Grumpy Cat when I woke up to a dark, cloudy, rainy day that would make a perfect backdrop for an anti-depressant commercial. This morning, I opened the door and saw a deluge of rain, but decided to accept it and be okay with it. “Alright, rain,” I said (because I am weird and talk to forms of precipitation sometimes), “you are here today. There’s nothing I can do to change that, so I am going to embrace your presence.” The rain gave me a symbolic thumbs-up in response, cheering me on. The rain and I have a pretty solid relationship, and I want to keep it as such.

Just embrace it!

So, equipped with my new attitude of acceptance, I got dressed in my rain boots and walked to work with a cheerful bounce in my gait. I probably looked like an idiot, but I couldn’t have cared any less. Many Japanese people, and people all over the world, see the rain as an excuse to skip the gym. In my opinion, it is the perfect reason to go to the gym. What’s better than hitting the elliptical machine and then rewarding yourself with a nice dip in the outdoor hot tub afterwards? Relaxing in a steamy spa in the rain is one of the best experiences.

These guys know what's up

I have also accepted that I am just not good at umbrellas, proved by the fact that even when I use one, I manage to arrive at my destination sopping wet. There are some days when I wish I were blessed with the super power to generate a rain-repelling force field around me. But, there are much worse things than getting a little wet (or, completely drenched in my case) in the rain. So, the rain and I have decided not just to reconcile our differences, but to embrace a beautiful friendship, because it’s all a matter of how you look at things in life. The rain can make you a Grumpy Cat, or a Happy Cat. It’s up to you.

Your choice.

Bad at Rain

Another Friday in the teacher’s room, another meeting taking place of which I did not understand a single word. I’m never sure how to deal with those situations. Do I act as though I understand, nodding at the speaker, when I clearly have no clue? Or, do I go about my business because, let’s be honest, there is not point to me listening? I’m still not sure. I feel the same why when it comes to jokes. When I am sitting with a group of teachers and one of them makes a joke, is it more logical for me to give a hearty guffaw in response, or awkwardly sit in silence? I’m still gauging the proper reaction to those situations.

I TOTALLY GET YOUR JOKES HAHAHA!

It turns out, as an English teacher told me later, that the meeting was about the approaching typhoon, which was scheduled to arrive the Monday following the meeting. The principal was informing the teachers that school would possibly be cancelled, and that if it was, they would receive a call informing them to stay home. The first thing that struck me was the nonchalance with which they discussed the typhoon. My eyes widened at the news of the approaching storm, but the other teachers were completely nonplussed, clearly the result of them having grown up with such a natural disaster-prone country.

As it came closer and closer for the typhoon to approach, people began giving me suggestions as for how to prepare. “Make sure you have enough food to last a few days.” “Be sure to buy some good rain boots.” “Get a couple of water bottles just in case.” “Charge all of your electronic devices.” My thoughts in response to these bits of advice were, in retrospect, extremely foolish. I figured that one slightly old salad from the convenience store along with enough coffee for a week were substantial supplies for nourishment in the case of a disaster. I couldn't fathom why I would need water bottles. “Even in a typhoon, I can just get water from the sink, right?” No, Marisa, because pipe damage is a thing. The same thought applied to charging my devices. “Oh, if there is a typhoon, I can still get electricity.” No, Marisa, because there are things called power outages. Clearly I was not adapted to inclement weather wreaking havoc on my daily conveniences.

The day of the dreaded typhoon arrived, and it was essentially just typical rainfall and a bit of wind. So, I decided to venture outside to go to a nearby coffee shop in my new rain boots toting my umbrella since school was cancelled and I had nothing better to do. I realized on this brief walk that, for lack of a better phrase, I am quite simply “bad at rain.” While Japanese women were walking outside for long distances with perfectly coiffed hair and beautiful outfits that they somehow managed to keep from getting wet with even the smallest drop of water, I managed to soak my pants and raincoat all the way through. My hair was dripping wet and I had a little puddle of water in my boots by the end of my short trek. Not only that, but the rain infiltrated my bag down to my WALLET, soaking even my money.

Yep, I am embracing the rain, thanks

How do Japanese people manage not to look like they fell in a lake? I swear they must have some sort of invisible force field surrounding them. The one thing that makes me different, however, is that I just simply didn't care about getting wet. Eventually I just said “to hell with my umbrella” (in my mind, because saying so out loud would make me seem like a total freak) and folded it up, embracing the magical feeling of skipping in the rain.